Are there any steel wheels compatible with a disk brake conversion? -1961 Thunderbird

Good afternoon, I recently performed a disc brake conversion on my 1961 Thunderbird, which was advertised as plug and play, only to find out that the 14 inch steel wheels on the car do not clear the new caliper. I bought the kit a number of years ago so returning it is out of the question. Are there any 14 inch steel wheels out there that are compatible with disk brakes for this car? I’d even be willing to switch over to 15’s if need be. Thank you so much and God bless.

Active Member

Good afternoon, I recently performed a disc brake conversion on my 1961 Thunderbird, which was advertised as plug and play, only to find out that the 14 inch steel wheels on the car do not clear the new caliper. I bought the kit a number of years ago so returning it is out of the question. Are there any 14 inch steel wheels out there that are compatible with disk brakes for this car? I’d even be willing to switch over to 15’s if need be. Thank you so much and God bless.

Well-Known Member

Good afternoon, I recently performed a disc brake conversion on my 1961 Thunderbird, which was advertised as plug and play, only to find out that the 14 inch steel wheels on the car do not clear the new caliper. I bought the kit a number of years ago so returning it is out of the question. Are there any 14 inch steel wheels out there that are compatible with disk brakes for this car? I’d even be willing to switch over to 15’s if need be. Thank you so much and God bless.

Three options that I think of off hand. 1. Change to 15" wheels. However this requires new tires. 2. Find later model 14" wheels perhaps from a Granada or other similar car that was built after disc brakes became more prevalent. This requires dismounting old tires and mounting and balancing tires on newly acquired later wheels. 3. Cheapest alternative which I chose. Go to auto parts store and buy 1/4"+or- wheel spacers. When I converted my '57 Thunderbird to front disc brakes I had the same problem. Of course the maker said that their disc brakes were a bolt allowing 14" wheels. Yes it is true that 14"inch wheels fit but not the original 14" wheels. In my order I was sent one caliper mount that would not fit until I tightened it enough that mount was bent and the caliper was put in a bid and inoperative. I called for a replacement due to arrive on Friday. Did not show up and when I called they knew nothing, They sent me a replacement due on Tuesday that arrived on Thursday. This put me way behind schedule for driving to a convention. I had to drive my brand X. Similar problem with going from vacuum windshield wipers to electric wipers. New Port says perfect fit. Well the motor and mounts do fit however It is apparent that they made their brackets with an dashboard out of the car, not installed in the car. Plus their instructions were worse than IKEA. Additionally the switch as included has a shaft that is way too short. It would be so nice that with their "direct fit" parts they included the extension shaft even with the extra cost of its inclusion. It is very aggravating when you think you are done with the hard work and a part you must have is not included. Just as a side note when I got this glitch apparently straightened out they sent me an incorrect replacement . Once again my installation was stalled. I do not wish this kind of poor service on anyone but it seems to be more common than it used to be.
Anyway, good luck and happy motoring.